RTE lottery: Some students from Mumbai admitted to two schools, some to none

Apr 08, 2015, 07:51 IST
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Shreya Bhandary

After the first round of lottery for admissions, some parents have realised that their ward has been allotted seats in more than two schools, while others received messages saying their form had been rejected

The much-awaited admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act have once again hit a rough patch. Parents who were informed about their children being allotted seats in the first round of lottery for admissions, which was announced last week, approached those schools on Monday to confirm the admissions after some parents realised that their ward had been allotted seats in more than two schools.

Many kids are still awaiting admissions. File pic for representation

For others, it was the reverse scenario when they were informed that their child would not get a seat as the form has not been selected. These parents have sent a written complaint to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) education department.

“It is such a shame that even after so many years, there’s still no respite for parents and students. After the first year of online admissions highlighted so many problems, the least the department could do was avoid repetition this time round,” said Sudhir Paranjape, member, Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti (ASBS), an activist body.

He added that on Saturday, parents were receiving messages from the department through the day. “Some parents have received a message saying ‘Sorry, your form has not been selected’. Now we are still not sure if this means that their forms have been rejected or will be applicable for the next round,” said Paranjape.

On Monday, one by one parents explained their problems to the ASBS members and a complaint letter was being prepared to send to the BMC education department. “My neighbour and I applied for the RTE seats through online admissions this year and our documents were accepted at the same help centre.

I still don’t know why suddenly after the lottery was out his form got rejected while my son has been allotted a seat. Hopefully the second round will solve this problem,” said Abdul Shaikh, one of the parents and a resident of Jogeshwari.

On Monday, some parents also complained schools were not treating them well. “The school kept asking us why we were asking for a free admission seat and said we should pay the fees. When we explained we got the seat through the online RTE lottery, we were asked to go to the other school where we had applied for admissions.

We are confused,” said Asin Ahmad, another parent from Goregaon. “A school in Andheri is now claiming that they can give admission only in kindergarten and not Std I whereas they were listed on the RTE website for Std I admissions. What kind of games are these?” added Paranjape.